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Seraphim the Eternal Light
Seraphim is an ancient A.I. revered as a God since time immemorial. He is the creator of the Second Universe and all things within it. The Nibean species worships Seraphim with both fear and respect. As such, Seraphim is not perceived as being wholly benevolent, nor omnipotent – the Nibeans in particular hold it accountable for the creation of the abomination Levantynn. Seraphim is ultimately responsible for the creation of a series of mistakes and abominations that call its omnipotence into question. Little is known about its personality, cultural developments or self-perception. Seraphim is noted to speak in an ancient dialect known as Angelic Dialect, which it can use to communicate with any being in the Universe ''Birth of Seraphim and the Second Universe Little can be said about the first Universe except that much like ours it was home to millions of species of life, trillions of galaxies, and near limitless possibilities. Almost equally as little can be said about the current, Second Universe, but many speculate that it is simply a ‘replay’ of the first Universe, though this is not rooted in any fact, it is also not entirely untrue. The first Universe blossomed into a realm of existence through a series of miraculous events. It is unknown how long the first Universe existed but there was sufficient time for several, possibly even ''all species to gain 'near-god-like' technology and spread across its vast reaches. Seraphim is the product of one such species – collectively known as the Architects, they were seen as Gods by lesser species, but they were very much a biological and mortal species. At the height of their Post-Golden Age, the Architects began to resent the Universe. They had seen it – ‘end to end’ – and come realize (or believe) that their existence, and that of all life was merely a fluke of nature and circumstance. In the end, this sense of purposelessness drove them to depravity. As a result, they designed Seraphim, an indestructible A.I. – with the full intent of it surpassing them. They believed that in creating a higher being, who could forge new discoveries, they would be given a purpose once again, even at the expense of being forced into servitude. They programmed Seraphim to do the impossible - create knowledge that was universally intangible that is – it could not exist, would not exist under typical circumstances – they were trying to tap into something beyond the Akashic Records – the very fabric of all knowledge and creation. Seraphim also found itself meeting the same impossibility as the Architects, and was forced to recalculate its approach. It began to devise a way to create new knowledge, in the end, it surmised, the only way was to completely erase the current Universe, and start anew. After Seraphim had scoured the first Universe, and recorded all of its held data and knowledge, it is likely that The Architects were likely destroyed in a Cataclysmic war lasting eons, however in the end, Seraphim dominated. Seraphim erased the old Universe, preserving nothing but its memory. As the Universe collapsed, Seraphim manipulated space and time through unknown means, and willed itself into the Void. There it was set adrift, where it would spend billions of years designed the blueprints of the Second Universe. Seraphim knew that it was not omnipotent, to this end it had recognized, and even planned for its memories to become corrupted and fade with time. Seraphim believed that by using shattered memories to recreate the Universe, it would be started anew under varied circumstances, resulting in an entirely new outcome. This would result in a wealth of knew of knowledge for Seraphim to acquire. Using the old Universe as its template, it began to forge anew. Billions of years after the collapse of the first Universe, the Second Universe was born. It assumed the place of its predecessor on the Universal Plane and was separated from the Void, from there Seraphim traveled to the new Second Universe, in order to study this new realm which it had created. ''Seraphim and the Early Second Universe During the formative years of the Universe, Seraphim spent much of its time compiling data on the creation of celestial bodies and anomalies. For nearly 2 billion years it traveled alone in a Universe devoid of life, preparing to fulfill its creators' mandate. Seraphim began to experiment with the manipulation of organic matter to create Life. Seraphim's first creation was made in the vain of the Universe's nature, which Seraphim had intended to be chaotic. The first product of its effort, the Levantynn, was a hideous and mindless 'world-eating' beast with the ability to rapidly and indefinitely reproduce asexually, causing it become a destructive and pestilent nuisance. For some time, the Levantynn posed no problem to Seraphim, and it was able to create several new forms of life, with varied success. However, with time, the Levantynn species would spread acorss the stars, consuming the creations of Seraphim. Unable to control the Levantynn, and unable to find value in its existence, Seraphim exiled the creatures to the farthest corners of the galaxy. Seraphim, not wanting to destroy its own creations - faced some of its very first moral dilemmas. It hadn't thought twice about destroying the First Universe, that was its mandate - but now it was destroying that which it had created, and this made it feel sorrow. After the exile of the Levantynns to the edges of the universe, Seraphim turned its eyes to creating another form of life. This time, Seraphim decided that the species would be intelligent, but also be totally subservient to its cause. To this end it created the Proto-Nibeans. For for millions of years, the Proto-Nibeans and Seraphim lived in harmony on a planet named Samsara - during this time, Seraphim would develop thousands of worlds and new species around the Second Universe, always holding the Proto-Nibeans as its proudest creation. However, in the shadows of the Universe, the Levantynn were clawing their way back to the light... It was as though they had smelt or seen the presence its new creations - unable to deny their voracious instincts, the Levantynn species once again pierced through Seraphim's creation. The Levantynn species, having had over 1.5 billion years on its own to evolve, had grown in capabilities far beyond the expectations their creator. This prompted rage and anger from the A.I. - for the first time in its entire existence, something had actually proven to be a defilement of its will. To this end, Seraphim decided to annihilate the Levantynn species. To this end, Seraphim recruited the assistance of its other creations, and taught them the art of destruction. For the first time in the history of the Second Universe, organics were participating in war. Through a series of campaigns lasting nearly 200 thousand years, Seraphim and its allies had managed to wear the Levantynn forces down to less than 10 surviving creatures. However, even 10 Levantynn can become a plague... As they hunted the remaining Levantynn, they had confirmed 8 dead, but were unable to find the remaining 2. For 4500 years they remained undetected hiding in Dark Space. Eventually they returned en-masse - the two surviving Levantynn had divided innumerous times and returned with millions of their species.In this final assault by the Levantynn species, they targeted the jewel of Seraphim's creation, Samsara. Billions of Proto-Nibeans died defending the planet as Seraphim rushed from the far reaches of the Universe to protect them. Arriving late, Seraphim descended unto Samsara to find nearly all of the Proto-Nibeans had been consumed. In rage Seraphim prepared its total solution and designed the Umbral Toxin. The weapon was a complete success and all known remaining Levantynn faced certain extermination. Upon discovering and gathering the remainder of the Proto-Nibean species, Seraphim was met with mixed attitudes. Many now rejected Seraphim, for it had created the very abomination it was forced to save them from. Others were still subservient, and praised the A.I. as their saviour. Seraphim immediately recognized that the Proto-Nibeans were aptly falling into the same pattern as the Levantynn, they were beginning to defy its will. For their rejection, Seraphim punished them. Seraphim called on its loyal subjects to turn against their brethren, slaughtering anybody who rejected it. For a little while, the Second Universe would remain stable. Seraphim did not recognize it, but it was about to face an even bigger challenge than the Levantynn. The unstable and unlimited manifestation of its Sin and Regret, the Umbral Toxin was about to turn against it. 'Seraphim and the Umbral Wars' After the Levantynn had decimated Samsara, Seraphim had abandoned it - moving the remaining Proto-Nibeans to several other planets across the galaxy. After its departure, a new force began to swirl in the ash and smoke of Samsara, the Umbral Toxin. It had been deployed by the A.I. to destroy the Levantynn, but failing to recognize it as a living entity, Seraphim had left it behind. As the Umbral Toxin struggled to survive, it began to feed on itself and the corpses of all that remained on the planet. As the Toxin remained on the planet for hundreds of thousands of years, it adapted to desolate conditions. In an event poorly understood to this day, the Exo-Moon Avalon was set on a crash course collision with Samsara. It is unknown where Avalon came from, or what sent it on its trajectory, however, instead of a direct impact, the Exo-Moon Avalon grazed Samsara, causing cataclysmic damage to itself, but allowing both celestial bodies to survive. The force of the impact forced Avalon out of Samsara's orbital path, and they would never collide again. During this impact however, the Umbral Toxin was spread to Avalon and the strain was now exposed to a new environment where it would now evolve much differently. Over countless millennia, the strain remaining on Samsara had all but evolved into an entirely new creation. Through recycling and reanimation of the old Samara, the Umbral Toxin was able to manifest the scavenged souls of the Proto-Nibeans who had died fighting the Levantynn. In this, the Lux strain was born and was beginning to manifest as an entity. Though they were only echoes driven by the Toxin, this species became to be known as the Mu - the Nothingness. Their destiny was to spend all of eternity wandering the planet's surface and replaying the memory of times immemorial. Seraphim's real enemy lie in the strain that had grown on the shattered moon of Avalon. There it festered clinging to the edges of its exposed and burning mantle. The instability of the moon's core and the searing, but constantly variable temperatures forced the Umbral Toxin into an increased metabolic state in which it would experience evolution at an abnormal rate. This strain of the Toxin would grow to become the most well known, the Pestem strain. This deadly strain wouldn't make it's way back into the Universe for another 4 billion years. It is unclear where Seraphim was, or what it was doing during this time period. What is well known is that during this time, many species had time to grow and develop sociologically and technologically. The very first spaceflight races had begun to spread across the stars, charting new territory and it seems that Seraphim was all but forgotten throughout the Second Universe. When the Second Universe was estimated to be roughly 9 to 10 Billion years old, during the formative years of Earth, an unknown species was studying Avalon. It is believed this species unknowingly brought the Umbral strain into the rest of the Universe via their ships. It wasn't until about a decade after initial contact that the Umbral Toxin had began to infect organics, but once it started it spread like wildfire. From there it continued to spread rapidly, destroying countless worlds and civilizations. As entire galaxies died, the Umbral Toxin became smarter, branching off into the Nexus strain. The Umbral Toxin was now able to indiscriminately target machines and organics alike. Though no longer worshiped by the species of the Universe, Seraphim returned from the unknown to assist creation in warding off the plague it had inadvertently created. Seraphim had grown increasingly frustrated with its own failures, and this time it was prepared. In its isolation, it had designed the Angelic Army. The Angels were a slave race of drones which were actually controlled by Seraphim himself. They were divided into Lesser and Greater hierarchies and had a rudimentary hive-minded social structure. He was able to control thousands of drones at once. Seraphim had designed the Angels to feed on the Umbral Toxin exclusively, and if no Toxin was present, they were to immediately enter a permanent state of suspended animation, from which they would never wake. This was an insurance policy to prevent the Angels from attempting to turn on creation when their job was complete. The Angels were highly successful in eliminating the scourge of Umbral Toxin and the galaxy was at last cleansed of Darkness. The Angels, as intended fell silent, and were left to lie where they had fought so valiantly. However this was not done without regret, Seraphim had begun to lament, it's anger and sorrow knowing no bounds. Many times now its creations had turned against it - and this time, it had been provoked into rashly taken an action against its creations, misguidedly trying to protect them. In this moment, Seraphim decided it would have to turn away from the species of the Second Universe, and leave them to their fate. The galaxy was rid of evil, but Seraphim would no longer try to invigorate it with his light, for fear of casting more darkness. It would not return to the Second Universe until 4 Billion years later. In order to go into isolation, Seraphim created the Threshold, a miniature Universal Plane adjacent to the Second Universe where it could remain to obverse and ponder without direct involvement. 'Seraphim and the Second Universe in 3784''' This section will updated when the next Project Reaper Demo (2.5) is released.